I went to Rwanda in 2014 with @gracechurchin to learn from @alarminc about the power of reconciliation. While I was there, I listened to stories from survivors about life before, during, and after the genocide. Fortunately I've maintained some friendships with a few people and we connect as often as possible. While I was in Rwanda, I went to two genocide memorials. The memorials exist in the original church buildings where many thousands of women, men, and children were killed. These are not shiny, rebuilt, multi-million dollar memorials like we have in America. This, as I am told, is intentional. There are personal belongings of the fallen in these memorials along with skeletal remains. The memorials look like the genocide recently ended. These are images that I can see whenever I write or talk about it. Of all the things I've seen and done in my life, those moments are among the most powerful and silencing moments of my entire life. Being there, in those places, forever changed how I view the value of life itself and the value of peace, the power of respectful communities, and the importance of civil discourse. It still amazes me that experiences that lasted mere hours of my life reset my perspective that I'd developed over the course of decades of experiences. The courage of my Rwandan friends dwarfs my ideas of courage. The hope that my Rwandan friends shared when they talked about what they had overcome and what they believed was ahead for them was humbling and inspiring. It is my daily prayer and goal serve in capacities that foster love, community, hope, humility, courage, and understanding as a way to do my part. I am encouraging all of you to learn more about the history of Rwanda, the role of misleading and divisive commentary about people groups, and the power of bystanders and how we can affect change in situations. The genocide in Rwanda is unique in some ways but the outcomes, the loss of life and fracture of families and communities, are not unique. We experience these outcomes in our own areas regularly. We all must intentionally work against hatred, supremacy, and isolation. #rwanda #kwibuka23 (at Kigali, Rwanda)